* by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
One of Jacksonville’s seemingly wunderkind companies suddenly closed last month amid a veil of secrecy. Employees of e house, which installs and maintains high-tech wiring in new homes, were locked out of its Deerwood headquarters with no explanation.
“I am caught off guard just as much as everybody else,” said Maria Alfonso, who handled communications for e-house. “I was asked last week to stop communication and the next thing I know I’m getting phone calls from people telling me what happened. I have no clue what happened to the company. I thought they were doing real well. It’s a real shame.”
e-house had become a major player in the local construction industry. the company advertidsed heavily, including in this publication, and was a frequent sponsor of events.Founded by Jacksonville businessman Jim Stallings and several younger men who met while working at him at medical equipment provider PSS, the company gave the image of health, weath and happiness.
e-house’s niche was to capitalize on the proliferation of electronic devices in modern homes, from personal computers to DVD players to coffee makers. The idea was to electronically link and control a virtually unlimited amount of electrical household elements. For instance, the television could be programed to turn on at a certain time of day. Temperature could be automatically controlled. Lights could dim or illuminate at certain times or in conjunction with other functions. Think George Jetson’s house...almost.
The company’s closure surprised many, especially since e-house’s product was in demand.
“I think that the home automation market is going to be there,” said Daniel Davis, associate director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. “Coupled with technological advances and the demand for homes, people will want these products in their homes.”
Home builders, now scrambling to complete the unfinished business left by e-house, have now turned to its former competitors. FulHouse by FunTech Solutions and Atlantic Home Technologies are two who offer the same services as e-house.
“We’ve had several builders call us,” said Atlantic Home Technologies president John Prince. “They’re struggling to find out what’s been done and not done.”
Prince said he’s gotten calls from about 10 builders stranded by e-house.
“Right now we’re trying to put out fires,” he said. “We’re trying to be responsive to those who have critical needs.”
Prince said e-house’s sudden closure was not the big surprise that some make it out to be, citing the company’s aggressive growth pattern. “We’ve been anticipating this for a few months,” he said.”It’s like any business. You have to bring in more than you spend.”
Another competitor, Dan Fulmer of FulTech Solutions, told The Florida Times-Union that he wasn’t surprised by the company’s troubles.
“Quite honestly,” he told the newspaper, “it seems like they tried to do too much, too soon.”
E-house was a privately held company started in May 2000 by a group that included ex-IBM and PSS World Medical executive Stallings. That year, e-house’s net sales were a reported $720,000. In 2001, the company’s sales exploded 522 percent to $4.5 million. e-house expanded, opening offices in Ft. Myers, Orlando and Charleston, S.C. and grew to 80 builder contracts and over 80 employees in its first year. The company was apparently doing so well that it hired a new chief financial officer in March to help with the company’s nationwide expansion objectives.
Stallings echoed the same sentiments last year in an interview for the Daily Record.
“It’s all about technology,” he said. “The home is where the big bang is going to be. Where the adoption of technology used to be in corporate America, it’s now coming to the home. People still thing that LAN [Local Area Network] is a corporate thing. What we install everyday with structured wiring is a LAN in the home. Three, four or five years ago, that was too expensive. Today we can do it for $1,000.”